Met officer sacked for discriminating against suspect in custody

A Met Police custody sergeant has been sacked after he told a detainee he ‘smelled like a junkie and shouldn’t be in this country’, threatened him and then pushed him into a cupboard unit.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct investigated Police Sergeant (PS) Navin Thammanna’s use of force, as well as comments he made, after three of his colleagues raised their concerns with a supervisor, which led to the Met referring the incident to us.

PS Thammanna faced a gross misconduct hearing this week which heard he used unnecessary force on the man, as well as derogatory and discriminatory language.

This was in breach of the police standards of professional behaviour relating to authority, respect and courtesy; equality and diversity, discreditable conduct and use of force.

On Tuesday (17 March), the disciplinary panel, appointed by the force and chaired by Commander Katie Lilburn, found all allegations against the officer were proven and that he should be dismissed without notice. He will also be placed on the policing barred list.

IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: “Police officers, and especially detention officers, carry a great deal of responsibility for often some of the most vulnerable members of society.

“PS Thammanna allowed himself to become agitated by the man who was undeniably being uncooperative. The officer was abusive, rude and used discriminatory language towards him.

“His use of discriminatory language was completely unacceptable, and he showed a complete lack of respect toward the man. It’s behaviour like this which damages the public’s trust and confidence in police officers.

“Police officers are permitted to use force in certain situations, however any force used must be reasonable and proportionate. The evidence clearly showed that PS Thammanna’s use of force was excessive and his actions were unacceptable.

“It was commendable that his colleagues raised this matter with their supervisor and gave evidence to support the case against PS Thammanna. This is a good example of the disciplinary process being effective in rooting out poor officer behaviour.”

Our investigation, which began in February 2025, found the man had been brought into Fresh Wharf Custody suite, Barking, east London, on 25 January 2025 after police responded to a report of two men fighting. The attending officers discovered he was subject to a deportation order and arrested him.

At the suite, custody sergeant PS Thammanna verbally abused the man, who was Asian, and made discriminatory comments.

The man, who was being rude and abusive to officers, was taken to the strip search room. Once in the room, his colleagues told our investigation that PS Thammanna threatened the man with force if he did not co-operate with officers and pushed him against the cupboard unit in the search room.

The next day, PS Thammanna bragged to a colleague about his use of force.

Three of his colleagues raised his behaviour with their supervisor, saying it was unprofessional and unacceptable.

On conclusion of our investigation, in June 2025, we concluded that the officer should face a gross misconduct hearing organised by the force.

As part of our investigation, we sent a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider a charge of assault by beating. In June 2025, the CPS decided not to issue a criminal charge.